Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. (Proverbs 27:2 KJV)
“Sounds like you have a great church!” My new friend Larry said, as we sat in a booth at a local Mexican restaurant getting acquainted.
Larry is a missionary and the father of Susanna, one of the Barton college students that recently joined WCC. She arranged for me to meet her father when he came to pick up her up from school this week.
As we got to know each other, I began to tell him about how our church was 15 years old and that we had become experts at seeing people come to Christ, get baptized, get discipled, and then sending them away.
“Of course…” I said, “The sending part hasn’t always been intentional. We have sent some of our best to the mission field and to plant churches, but many have left for other local churches. It seems we have become experts at growing a church up to around 300 and then growing it back down to 100 again.”
“So, what’s wrong with that?” Larry asked.
“Well, for one thing, it’s getting harder to lead because we keep sending those whom we’ve invested in most. It’s like a joke around here that no one wants to be on the WCC staff because within a year or so you’ll find yourself shipped to the Middle East or starting some ministry in another area. Our last associate pastor got shipped to Baghdad and now serves in Jordan. Of our last three youth pastors, one is now in Cairo, Egypt, another is preparing for ministry in Czech, and the third is planting a church in Greensboro.”
“I’m still listening for the problem.” Larry said, a smile tugging at his mouth. “OK, it’s not just former staff. Just being a deacon, a women’s ministry leader, or a children’s ministry leader can get you shipped out of here. We have former deacons out there who left us to go to seminary and become church planters and pastors. We have a former women’s leader who got her Ph.D. in Women’s Studies and teaches on the subject in New Orleans. We have a former children’s ministry director who moved from here and now helps another church plant with their children’s ministry.” I muttered.
“But…” Larry interrupted.
“I’m not finished.” I continued. “It seems like the minute we get people saved and baptized… the minute we get the husband to stop drinking… the wife to start loving her husband and children… the minute they start learning to serve God with their time, talent, and treasure… they leave. There. I said it. They leave right when they could be some help to us in building the church!”
“Wow. Now I know you have a really great church! Larry exclaimed. “I think your church is an equipping and sending church. I love the fact that you send people and that you still rent a building. I think you have a really, really great church!”
Having lunch with my new friend Larry has got me thinking. We are building a great church—Christ’s church! And His church is bigger than WCC.
So, what does that mean for us? Well, for one thing, after falling back last year to around 130 or so, we are now growing like crazy again. Based on current trends we’ll grow past 300 this year. People are getting saved. Joining the church. Getting their lives right.
But with this growth, we are having some very familiar growing pains. With more people coming we need more people serving. We need people serving with their time, talent, and treasure. Who among you is ready to step up and increase your commitment by giving back to God? Will you give your time by working with our children? Will you give your talent by helping serve on one of our ministry teams? Will you give a significant and sacrificial portion of your income to God as an investment in His Kingdom and an expression of your love and obedience?
I know some of you will say “Yes” to God. Of course, the danger is that some of you will grow up and be called to go out from us. And I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that part.
But hearing the “praise of another” certainly helped my perspective.
Comments